Season 13 got off to a late start Wednesday at the Red Lion, and a couple of players went to great lengths to make it happen. Literally.

Isaac Cumberledge traveled by train and el from distant Huntley just to play Dip with the Weasels. Recently relocated from Ohio, he learned about the club on webdiplomacy.net and braved the three-hour round-trip commute to join us for Red Wednesday. That's commitment.

Don't blame Brian Murdock for thinking Ike's a piker, though. He came all the way from Seattle! Known to WAC alumni simply as Murdock, he was  tagging along with his wife for a conference in town and bumped into Jim O'Kelley while wandering around Lincoln Park Wednesday morning. The chance encounter led to an invitation to round out our first board of Season 13.

So, after three false starts, Season 13 finally opened with Game No. 354. It ended by time limit after the Fall 1906 turn in the following center counts:

Gus Spelman, one of the many promising new recruits from Seasons 11 and 12, bagged his first board-top last night at the Red Lion in Lincoln Square. We suspect it won't be his last.

Game No. 347 ended by time limit after the Fall 1906 turn in the following center counts: